Cyprus business week: ECB urges investment, Keve plans care talks, shipping focuses on seafarers

Nicosia, Cyprus. Business stories from the week starting September 21 included an ECB warning about household savings, a planned discussion on support for working carers and Cyprus’s participation in a maritime programme in Athens.

ECB warns on household investment

The European Central Bank (ECB) warned that euro area households hold too much of their wealth in cash and low-yield deposits. It said Cyprus faces a particular challenge in encouraging households to move towards longer-term investment.

In a blog post published during the week, the ECB said around one-third of euro area household financial assets, worth almost €10 trillion, remained in cash and low-yield bank deposits. Around 80 per cent of households did not own stocks or other market-based financial instruments, it said, with participation substantially lower than in the United States.

The gap was particularly pronounced among wealthier households. More than 65 per cent of the wealthiest 20 per cent of US households held listed shares, bonds or mutual funds, compared with less than 45 per cent in the euro area, according to the ECB.

Keve to discuss support for working carers

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Keve) will hold a round-table discussion in Nicosia on September 29, 2026, about workers with care responsibilities and the support available to them, including a new scheme subsidising care services.

The event will examine how employees can balance work with caring for an elderly person, someone with a disability or another family member. It will also consider how employers, public authorities and other relevant organisations can better respond to the needs of workers who provide informal care.

Cyprus addresses seafarers’ rights in Athens

Cyprus raised seafarers’ rights, shipping’s social role and the competitiveness of the European fleet during a three-day maritime programme in Athens. The programme moved from a focus on the people behind the industry to the regulatory pressures shaping its future.

At an international symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), Shipping Deputy Minister Marina Hadjimanolis argued that protecting seafarers could no longer be treated separately from the wider changes transforming global shipping.